The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has charged Idin Dalpur with orchestrating a multi-year Ponzi scheme involving digital assets, causing losses estimated at $43 million.
The suspect was arrested on May 1, with the initial court hearing taking place the same day.
According to investigators, Dalpur had been running the fraudulent scheme since 2020. He promised investors from the U.S. and other countries “huge profits” of up to 42% annually by investing in the Las Vegas hotel business and cryptocurrency trading.
“The promises [made by the detainee] were a mirage. He used a classic pyramid model, paying investors supposed profits with other investors’ money. Instead of using the funds as promised, Dalpur spent lavishly on himself,” added prosecutor Damian Williams.
Authorities noted that the accused lost approximately $1.7 million of victims’ funds gambling, covered debts with them, and paid for his children’s private school education.
Dalpur lied to investors when they attempted to retrieve their money. On one occasion, he claimed that his company’s funds were temporarily frozen by a bank due to a “server hack.”
During a conversation with a group of investors in November 2023, he allegedly admitted to fraud, document fabrication, and embezzlement.
“What you already have, you have. You can put me in jail right now,” Dalpur reportedly stated at the time.
If convicted, the man faces up to 20 years in prison.
Previously, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against the mining company Geosyn Mining and its two co-founders for unregistered and fraudulent securities offerings amounting to $5.6 million.
In April, a Nebraska resident was sued for stealing $3.5 million from cloud computing services for cryptocurrency mining.
In December 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice charged two men with orchestrating a $25 million crypto scam.